Volume 15 | Issue 6
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
BRIEFS Free clinics for ex-servicemen running short of medicines Clinics working under the free healthcare scheme for ex-servicemen have been falling short of medicines for the past six months. The shortage is caused due to delay in sanction of medicines from the integrated finance adviser’s office, according to clinic staff. Page 2
Panel discussion on social policy and civil society
Human trafficking victims often treated as convicts, say experts Parvathi Benu Experts say that statistics on human trafficking and bonded labour cases cannot be trusted as most of the cases go unreported in the country. “The real number of people subjected to human trafficking is in reality very much higher than the number of cases reported,” said Dr. P. M. Nair, IPS (Retd.). Nair has worked for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) as Nodal Officer on anti-human trafficking and the Principal Researcher on the Action Research on Trafficking in Women and Children. He was a speaker at the National Research Conference on Human Trafficking, organized by Christ University along with the International Justice Mission (IJM). Statistics by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that there had been an increase of 38.3 percent in human trafficking cases over the past five years. But the conviction rate shows a 45 percent decline. When asked about this, Dr. Nair said, “A surprising fact is that, the victims were charged as convicts in 93 percent of the cases in 2005. The situation has become better now, and this figure is now 85 percent.” He added that only 16 percent of the personnel in the police
force are trained to tackle trafficking and exploitation related crimes. A few other speakers at the event included Soumendu Mukherjee, former DIG, CID (anti-human trafficking unit), Brinda Adige of Global Concerns India and Esther Daniel, the director of system reform in International Justice Mission. “The whole explanation of the term bonded labour has to be redefined,” said Adige. “There was a case in Bangalore, when we rescued a domestic help, who was chained and made to do the work. But the police was not ready to charge a case of bonded labour, as they said it happens only in agriculture and factories,” she added. Adige said that most of the female bonded labourers in the state are subjected to perverted sex and do not speak up about the issue, as they fear it would affect their families. “Rehabilitation for these women is a continuous process. After treatment and counselling, they are trained in different trades. But, in almost 98 percent of the cases, the families are not ready to accept them back,” she added. The speakers also talked about the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU). “It is a multipurpose system which includes an Investigative Officer, an NGO, a prosecutor and
Illegal shop prompts police case A man in Kaggadasapura who cut through a supporting beam in an apartment block to open an illegal shop allegedly set local goons on residents who complained. Page 3
Cops use tech to trace murder victim Police sent a piglet wearing a camera down a manhole in their hunt for the body of a six-yearold girl, Husna Baig, a victim in a triple homicide.. Page 4
Artwork by Christ University students on human trafficking a government officer,” said Dr. Nair. “Home verification is a mandatory thing in trafficking, as it checks the involvement of parents. This has to be done by an NGO,” he added. “Karnataka, especially the northern districts of the state are both a source and destina-
tion of human trafficking. Bangalore mostly is a transit point,” said Mukherjee. “We have caught rackets functioning in the state through searches at bus stands. Many times, the victims were children sold by parents.”
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5 out of 6 high-rises have no fire safety certificate High-rise buildings that do not comply with safety rules will have their power supply cut, according to a senior fire official. Page 4